Hugo (game show)
Hugo (Danish: Skærmtrolden Hugo) is a children's interactive television show created by the Danish company Interactive Television Entertainment (ITE) in 1990. Since its premiere on TV2, this popular "live one-player multi platform interactive game show" has aired in more than 40 other countries. The show has been adapted into multiple video games as well into various merchandise and other media in its extended franchise. Show Hugo, created by Danish company SilverRock Productions later known as Interactive Television Entertainment (ITE), was first aired on the Danish television channel TV2 during Eleva2ren in September 1990, following the lesser success of their previous show, OsWALD.6789 It featured a video game that was played by the audience via telephone connection. A player would call the show where they would control a cartoon character on the TV screen in several scenarios by pressing digit keys on the phone (either 1,2, 310 or 2, 4, 611) which represented different character controls.12 The show proved to be a hit,13 airing continuously on TV2 for five years.14 Since then, Hugo has been licensed to more than 4015 (43 as of 200716) TV shows around the world, beginning in Spain and France in 1992.14 Many viewers believed that the program was native to their countries, as Hugo spoke Danish only in Denmark.17 Hugo The show's original scenario, which ran on Danish television for a year, featured only the titular character, Hugo. Hugo is a small, friendly troll who is 220 years old (which is still a young age for trolls),18 who in this scenario would navigate a dangerous old mine in a quest for a treasure without a backstory. The in-game Hugo would also communicate with the player to comment on the game's progress. For the next season, the show was vastly expanded, adding added Hugo's family: his 180-year-old wife Hugolina (Hugoline) and their kids — Rit (TrolleRit), Rat (TrolleRat) and Rut (TrolleRut), who were aged 20–50, as well Hugo's arch-enemy, the evil witch named Scylla (originally Afskylia in Denmark and also having other international names such as the alternative Scylla in English, Hexana in the German version, Maldicia in the Spanish version, Maldiva in the Portuguese version, Mordana in Croatia, Skylla in Finland, Sila in Turkey, and Simla in Vietnam), who would kidnap Hugo's family. In the original program, Scylla is extremely old and hideous but appears young and beautiful when the captive Hugolina is kept near her in a cage along with the kids.819 The objective of the show's game became guiding Hugo, having three lives, through various obstacles in a series of different scenarios in order to rescue Hugo's family. After finishing the game by either winning or losing, the score points determining the value of the prize would be calculated, depending on the amount of gold collected along the way, with any lost lives negatively impacting the score. A potential bonus awaited those who would successfully reach the end of the level and have hugo enter the witch's Skull Cave lair to have three ropes hang in front of him for to choose one to pull. Either he would manage to free his loved ones and defeat Scylla would be tied up and ejected through a window), or the family would be freed but the witch would escape him, or he would end up tied up and sent flying; according to the result, the score will be doubled, left at its state, or halved.2021 Usually, several people would attempt this task to win the prize during half an hour of airtime.2223 In addition to Hugo's messages for the player, Scylla would also cruelly taunt both Hugo and directly the player. Later, the show was gradually expanded with more characters (talking and regular animals, either good or evil) and increasingly more diverse environments and gameplay. The new scenarios added through the years to the TV show were also featured in the updated editions of the video game based on it. Jungle Island Main article: Hugo: Jungle Island A new program titled Hugo: Jungle Island15 (Hugo Vulkanøen) premiered in January 199924 and was itself adapted into a video game series set on in the titular location. A late scenario set inside the magic mirror from the 2002 video game Hugo: The Evil Mirror was also created and aired in some countries including Poland.25 Behind the scenes Hugo was originally portrayed by Michael Brockdorf, who developed the voice while in the Army.26 Several others had since taken over the task of voicing the character, including Amin Jensen and Torben Simonsen. Hugolina was originally voiced by Louise Engell (Louise's brother, Thomas Engell, composed Hugo music for the show) while her mother Winnie voiced the antagonist Scylla.27 For Hugo and its similar television program projects, ITE originally developed a designated, custom-built computer hardware system called the ITE 3000 that would convert telephone signals into control commands for the characters in the game and allow audience interaction and the action on the TV to occur without delay.28 The system was based on two Amiga 3000 computers combined with a new audio control system MIDI sampler, the DTMF system and some other hardware, all of which reportedly cost $100,000 to make.6 The ITE 3000 was later replaced by the PC-based ITE 4000, which used a real-time motion capture Animation Mask System (AMS),29 invented by Bjarne Sølvason (father of the ITE founder Ivan Sølvason), to transfer an actor's body, head, and eye movements and facial expressions to Hugo's character on screen.3031 The actor providing the voice of Hugo wore a helmet which contained sensors that would capture his facial expressions and translate them to the character, but all of the characters' body movements were pre-rendered.32 In 1996, ITE created a 3D graphics system for Hugo using Silicon Graphics' Onyx RealityEngine.833 A new technology for the real-time 3D animation of Hugo was unveiled in 2005, but was aimed only for export, specifically to Asian countries.34 Licensed programs Hugo never aired in South Africa because the local TV station demanded that ITE remove horns in all animations for all games, as their viewers were very superstitious and believed that Hugo would appear as a demon from local beliefs. The horns of Hugo also caused some problems in the Middle East.35 By countryedit Argentinaedit In Argentina, A Jugar Con Hugo, hosted by Gabriela "Gaby" Royfe,4445 ran for seven seasons and 343 episodes,46 winning the Martín Fierro Awards for "Best Kids Show" in 2003.47 Hugo was voiced by César Ledesma. A paper magazine was also published for the show. Gaby Royfe returned to host the program in 2016, this time using the Internet and a mobile app instead of television and a classic telephone, when the 30th anniversary event was attended by 1600 people and watched by half a million.48495051 Braziledit In Brazil, the Hugo show on CNT Gazeta52 (later Hugo Game) peaked with 500% above the expected rating level, with 1.8 million callers on a single day.535455 The program was directed by Herbert Richards and hosted by Mateus Petinatti and Vanessa Vholker, later replaced by Andréa Pujol and Rodrigo Brassoloto.56 Hugo was presented as a duende and played by an animatronic puppet57 (later only appearing on the game screens) voiced by Orlando Viggiani. Chileedit In Chile, Hugo was a success58 and was quickly extended from a 15-minute segment to 30 minutes in the latter half of 1995, eventually receiving a daily one-hour time slot on Televisión Nacional de Chile as La Hora de Hugo ("Hugo Hour").59 The winner of the daily editions would meet in a weekend finale60 and a "Hugo van" traveled around the country to meet the program's viewers.54 The show was originally hosted by Ivette Vergara and later by Andrea Molina,6162 with Sandro Larenas voicing Hugo.63 Chinaedit In the People's Republic of China, Hugo was known as a "European troll" and the show could not be interactive because a 30-second delay was required in order to allow authorities to cut off the feed if anyone said anything negative about the ruling regime.35 Croatiaedit In Croatia, Hugo was presented by Boris Mirković, Ivana Plechinger and Kristijan Ugrina,40 with Hugo voiced by Ivo Rogulja.64 The show was highly popular, running for eight years, and the taunt used by the witch Scylla (Mordana in the Croatian version of the show) in the dungeon became iconic: Hajde, izaberi jedan broj, sigurno ćeš pogriješiti! ("Go on, choose a number, you will surely fail!").40 Finlandedit In Finland, where Hugo was introduced by game journalist-turned-producer Pekka Kossila in 1992,65 two different, 30-minute Hugo shows were aired at the same time by Yle TV2, one for adults and one for children, achieving an 18% market share by 1996.54 The programs were originally presented by Taru Valkeapää,66 who was chosen from among 45 candidates,67 and later by Marika Saukkonen,68 while Hugo was voiced by Harri Hyttinen.69 Merchandise included the music CD DJ Hugo, which included dance hits of 1993. Franceedit In France, the program was titled Hugo Délire ("Hugo Madness") and Les Délires d'Hugo ("Hugo Delusions")70 and was presented by Karen Cheryl on France3.7172 The popular7374 show achieved a cult status among the children of the 1990s.7576 Germanyedit In Germany and at first also Austria and Switzerland, Die Hugo-Show,77 scored with techno music,78 would draw up to 200,000 phone calls every day at its peak, achieving the 40% share of viewers in the target age of 3-13 with its audience of 700,000 in Germany.33 It used a virtual reality-like studio and the "Hugo-mobile" for live broadcasting all around the country,54 becoming a cult show for some.79 The German version of Hugo won the Golden Cable award in 1995 for the "Best Children's Program".30 There were several musical Hugo the Troll guests on the show, including Masterboy.80 A 1996-1997 Kabel 1 spin-off program titled Hexana-Schloss ("Hexana's Castle"),81 was hosted by a live-action version of Hexana (German name for Scylla) played by Julia Haacke82 and sponsored by PlayStation.83 German presenters included Minh-Khai Phan-Thi, Yvette Dankou, Tania Schleef and Judith Hildebrandt,7884 while Sonja Zietlow hosted the spin-off program Hugo & Hexana.85 Hugo's voice actors were Michael Habeck, Oliver Grimm, Oliver Baier and Sven Blümel. The country also had a Hugo magazine and a wide variety of merchandise, including numerous music CD releases.86 Irelandedit In Ireland, Hiúdaí won the Oireachtas TV awards' "TV Presenter of the Year" in 2001 and "Personality of the Year" in 2004.4787 Israeledit In Israel, Hugo (הוגו) was a 30-minute show on Arutz HaYeladim (The Children's Channel) and quickly became the channel's most popular show.5488 The show inspired a three-hour spin-off, Hugo's World (עולמו של הוגו), in 1996,89 in which children used a large step-on number pad to enter character movements. From 1997 to 2001, Hugo starred in a children's electricity safety campaign by Israel Electric Corporation and the show offered a contest related to this campaign in 1997.23 The program's presenters included Tal Berman. In addition to various merchandise, the show was adapted into a comic book series and a musical stage show.90 Polandedit In Poland there was the main show, and two spin-offs, all of which were shown on the Polsat network. The spin-offs, Hugo Family and Hugo Express, were the most popular children's programs for years.91 Hugo was originally hosted by Wojciech Asiński and Andrzej Krucz, and later by Piotr Galus, while Aleksandra Woźniak hosted Hugo Family.92 Hugo was voiced first by Andrzej Niemirski93 and later by Mariusz Czajka.94 There was a monthly magazine and many types of locally produced merchandise, similar to Germany. Portugaledit In Portugal, the show's presenters included Alexandra Cruz, Fernando Martins, Pedro Mendonça, Pedro Pinto, Joana Seixas and Susana Bento Ramos, and the voice actors were Frederico Trancoso (Hugo), Grace Ferreira (Hugolina), and Mónica Garcez (Maldiva/Scylla).95 Hugo won a Troféu Nova Gente award in 1999.30 The show was later revived by the daily program Hora H ("H Hour").96 Russiaedit In the Russian program Позвоните Кузе ("Call Kuzya") hosted by Inna Gomes and Andrei Fedorov, Hugo was voiced by Aleksander Lenkov and Dmitry Polonsky.9798 Hugo was first renamed to Max (Mакс)22 and then to Kuzya (Кузя, possibly after Kuzya the Little Domovoi, the hero of a Soviet cartoon series), while Scylla was voiced by Aleksandra Ravenskih. Slovenia In Slovenia, Hugo was hosted by Gregor Krajc on TV Slovenija.99 It became the #1 entertainment show by 1996, reaching 38% TV ratings.54 Spain In Spain, 25% of the population tuned in to watch Hugo hosted by Carmen Sevilla on Telecinco, a viewing figure that has remained unsurpassed since 1994.1006 The success of Hugo prompted the launch of Hugolandia, a spinoff program presented by Beatriz Rico, Luis Alberto Vazquez, and Roma and Eva Morales, and directed by Sebastian Junyent. Pepe Carabias voiced Hugo.36101102103 Swedenedit In Sweden, the TV4 version of the Hugo show went on to become the best-rated children's show ever in 1996.3054 The show's merchandise included a board game. Turkeyedit In Turkey, Hugo became the highest ranking children's show and achieved a 12% share of the total market when the country was new to private channels.54104 The program was enormously popular, especially in 1993, when it was watched by millions of children, thousands of whom would compete to play. The show was hosted by Tolga Gariboğlu.105106 There was also a theatrical show and locally made merchandise. In the Turkish version, the popular107108109110111 character Scylla (cadı Sila, voiced by Eylem Şenkal112) was kidnapping Hugo's family as she needs to drink troll sweat for eternal life and beauty.113114 There is also a popular urban legend about a boy who hard cursed against Hugo and the show's host Tolga after losing, with many claiming they have witnessed it on live television even as it has always been denied by the host.115116 United Kingdom In the UK, Hugo was played on What's Up Doc?117 and The Shiny Show, reaching up to 38% TV ratings on the latter.54 Vietnamedit In Vietnam, Vui cùng Hugo ("Fun With Hugo") became one of the highest rated shows by 2008, receiving 20,000 phone calls per episode.118 The program became a household name and a favourite among both children and many adults.119120 It was hosted by Hoang Thuy Linh, Le Duc Anh (Duc Anh Hugo), Ngoc Linh and Thanh Van (Thanh Van Hugo),121122123124 with Hugo voiced by Quach Ho Ninh.125126 Other media and merchandise Main article: Hugo (franchise) Various video games, including a series directly adapted from the 1990s show, and other media and assorted merchandise have been produced in Denmark to be distributed around the world. Some later video games and other adaptations would drop the Hugolina-kidnapping motif and Scylla would become always youthful by default, instead seeking revenge against Hugo, searching for an ultimate power to conquer the world, or even trying to make the trolls extinct, and some games like the Agent Hugo series even dropped her as a character altogether. There were also two attempts to adapt the show into an animated film, among other developments. Category:TV Shows Category:TV2 (Norway) Category:Boomerang Category:Boomerang From Cartoon Network Category:Cartoon Network Category:Comedy Category:Noggin Category:Hugo (game show) Category:Nicktoons Category:Pikku Kakkonen Category:Taru Valkeapää Category:Marika Saukkonen Category:Kids' WB Category:PBS Kids Sprout Category:Nelvana Category:Shows that originally aired on Cartoon Network Category:Nickelodeon